Chapter 15

Mai is escaping

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As the night went on, Mai was laying on the bare ground, her arm under her head. She pretended to be asleep and waited for a convenient moment to slip out of the camp. The girl slightly opened her eyes, now wanting to give out, that she was awake, and took a look around the camp.

The campfire was still burning, flames dancing playfully and casting a little light on her kidnappers. Rin was sound asleep and so was Jaken, snoring quite loudly. Mai squinted her eyes, trying to figure out, if the dragon called Ah-Un was sleeping as well. The beast was laying, both heads with closed eyes. All right, safe. Now the last one left. The girl turned her eyes to the silver-haired demon. He was sitting on the opposite side of the campfire, leaning his back against the tree, his eyes closed. Sesshomaru had his armor still on and the two swords rested against his shoulder. His face was peaceful and Mai assumed, that he’s asleep. She wasn’t sure though. “Well, there is only one way to find out.” Thought Mai and lifted herself off the ground slowly, not taking her eyes off the demon, waiting for any reaction. There was none, he was sitting still all the time. Taking it as a good sign, the girl slowly made her way to the forest, taking one step at a time, careful not to step on some twig, rustle with her silk kimono or even breath loudly, afraid to wake up the youkai. She knew, that if he caught her, she would be dead meat. She was glancing nervously from time to time at Sesshomaru, checking for any signs of danger. When she finally reached the edge of forest, she turned around and started marching faster, but still carefully looked under her feet and kept quiet. She refrained herself from running till she would be out of demon’s hearing range.

If Mai looked back now, she would see a pair of golden eyes opening to watch her warily.

The girl found a path and followed it. Her escape didn’t went so smooth as she pictured it. Although it was full moon tonight and stars were shining brightly, the trees cast a dark shadow. It was difficult for her to see, where she was going and had to walk really slow at avoid tripping and alarming anyone in the camp. The branches were catching on her long kimono and hair. Mai cursed, as it happened again. She struggled with a tree to free her sleeve and wasn’t paying attention to her surroundings.

“What are you doing, woman?” she heard a cold voice right behind her. Mai felt all color leave her face and a shiver go down her spine. I’m so dead! she thought frantically, ripping her sleeve, as she pulled it in panic. She turned around to see angry Sesshomaru, standing not a meter from her. How did he get here so fast? His face was calm, but Mai could see wrath in his eyes. She was sure, he will kill her this time. Mai was so scared, that she couldn’t think clearly.

„Oh.” Mai uttered, desperately trying to figure out, what to do. Should she run? She had no chance – Sesshomaru was definitely faster and would be only more mad. The girl tried to keep her head cool. “It not what you think! I wasn’t going to escape!”

The demon arched his eyebrow. Mai cleared her throat and made her best to sound confident.

“I only wanted to bath. I was looking for some water.” She said quickly, thinking, that was a very poor excuse. “I really need it.”

“And why did you go alone in the middle of the night?” asked Sesshomaru, clearly unconvinced to her stupid story. He looked slightly less pissed off, more like he was amused, in a sadistic way. Mai smiled faintly.

“I didn’t want to wake you all up.” She answered, cursing in her mind, because it sounded just so dumb…

Sesshomaru glared at her and Mai fought her urge to turn on her heel and flee as fast as she could.

“Follow me.” The demon broke the uncomfortable silence at last and started walking away. Mai hesitated for a moment and then rushed after him, thinking it would be foolish not to. They were walking in silence for a couple of minutes. The girl wondered, where the hell he was leading her. Her sense of direction wasn’t her strength, but she was pretty sure, that the camp was elsewhere. Mai’s heart started to pound faster, as she imagined, why could he lead her into the deep, dark forest. He could murder her there and Rin would never hear her screams.

“Sesshomaru?” Mai spoke up, her voice shaking. The demon didn’t answer or show any other kind of response, like slowing down for instance.

“Sesshomaru!” Mai called louder. Maybe he didn’t hear her the last time.

“I am not deaf, woman.” He said eventually.

“Where are we going?” she asked, hoping, that she managed to start a conversation. He didn’t answer her right away. Mai covered her eyes, as the bright moonlight blinded her. She lowered her hand and looked around. Sesshomaru led her to a lakeshore. The light of moon and stars reflected in the water. Mai opened her mouth in awe, impressed how beautifully the water sparkled. She looked up and gasped. The sky was clear tonight. The full moon seemed bigger than usual, but it was the stars, that captivated her. There were so many, many more than Mai had ever seen before. And above all, a white Milky Way was visible – something about the girl read in the books, but never saw in reality. The night sky in this time seemed younger, more beautiful.

“Woman.” Sesshomaru’s voice made her come back to reality. Mai almost forgot, that he was standing beside her. She turned her head and looked at him. In the bright moonlight he seemed more inhuman. His golden eyes were almost glowing.

“Eh?” Mai uttered, unsure what did he want from her. He glared at her, becoming annoyed.

“Undress.” He said simply. Mai opened her mouth agape, wondering if she heard what she thought she did. Exactly what did he want from her? Then it clicked in the mind. How dare he!

“What?!” she exclaimed, as she folded her arms folded protectively around her and took a step back from him.

“Hn.” Sesshomaru averted his gaze. “Go bathe.”

Mai stood in a place, processing, what he said just now. She looked at a lake and then back at the silver-haired demon. Did he lead her to let her bath? That was kind of… nice of him. He could have killed her.

“Oh, thank you. I will.” She said, waiting for him to leave. Sesshomaru, however, stood still.

“Are you going to stand here?” Mai asked, a little irritated. “I need some privacy.”

Sesshomaru sent her his cold glare, walked over to a large stone nearby and sat on it, his back to the lake. Mai was staring at him, not believing, that he wasn’t going anywhere. How the hell was she supposed to take a bath with HIM sitting here? She stalked toward him, rested her hands on her hips and cleared her throat.

“I think, we have a misunderstanding about the meaning of the word ‘privacy’.” She said angrily. The demon looked her in the eye, sending her his intimidating icy glare.

“Woman,” he said quietly. “Bathe.”

Somehow his calm voice scared her more than when he would be yelling at her. Considering the previous events, arguing with him would end painfully for her. Mai sighed, defeated.

“All right.” She said. “But don’t peek!”

Sesshomaru didn’t respond, he averted his gaze from her and fixed it on the nearby trees. Mai made her way towards the lakeshore. When she reached it, she found a log, where she could lay her clothes. She took off her shoes and socks. They were white in the morning, but now seemed to be kind of grayish and Mai noticed a large hole in the place, where a heel was. The girl sighed and threw them into the bushes. She shot a nervous glance at Sesshomaru, who was still sitting with his back to her. Embarrassed by his presence, she untied her obi and placed it on the log. She checked once again, if the demon wasn’t peeking and took her attire off. She darted into the lake, to get herself under the surface of the water as soon as possible. She didn’t want to stand naked longer than it was necessary. She dove under the water and stayed there until she was out of breath. She emerged slowly, keeping only her head above the water level and checked for any signs of peeking. Mai decided, that Sesshomaru was apparently no pervert. She started rubbing her hair and body in order to get them as clean as possible. She would kill for a soap or shampoo. Mai winced, as she touched her left arm. The girl had blue bruises all over the body, but the arm was a mess. She managed to wash off the dried blood, but the sight still wasn’t pretty to look at. The arm seemed to be covered in one huge bruise. There were also puncture wounds from the demon’s claws. “Good, that at least it’s not broken” Mai thought. She scrubbed herself a little more and was soon eager to get out of the water. If she wasn’t so dirty, nothing in the world would make her to get in in the first place – Mai was freezing – as to be expected of someone bathing in the lake in spring. Clattering her teeth, she got out, shivering even more as her bare wet skin made contact with chilly air. She rushed to the log, where her clothes were. She grabbed the most inner layer and wrapped herself in it as in the towel – she won’t wear it anymore anyway. After checking Sesshomaru’s position, she examined the rest of her clothes. Including the inner layer, which served for underwear, and the expensive outer one, she had six kimonos. The outer one, beautifully green with red roses embroidered on it couldn’t be saved. The silk was tattered and torn, not to mention horribly stained. She sighed with regret and tossed it into the bushes. The other ones were in a little better condition, almost undamaged, not counting tattered left sleeves, stained with her blood. She decided to put on two of these and take rest with her. She unwrapped the fabric, that was around her body and quickly slipped into the kimonos, tying them tightly with obi. She put on her shoes, gathered the other layers and made her way towards the silver-haired demon, who was sitting on the rock, still as a statue. Mai was quite uncomfortable, that he insisted on staying here while she was bathing, but at least he didn’t peek.

“I’m done.” She said to him.

Sesshomaru got up and made his way into the forest, without saying anything. Mai followed him, jogging to catch up with his pace. She wanted to tell him to slow down, but she thought it was best not to say anything, that could make him want to strangle her. She realized, that she had to keep a low profile and plan her escape carefully next time. The risk of getting caught turned out to be higher, than she thought.

Mai could see a faint glimpse of red light. The campfire! They were near the camp.

The girl nearly bumped into Sesshomaru, as the demon stopped abruptly. She swayed and supported herself by grabbing a branch.

“Tch!” she hissed, when she regained her balance. She tilted her head to look up at Sesshomaru. The youkai was looking at her coldly.

“If you ever try to escape from me, I will track you down and kill you.” He said slowly, his gaze boring into her eyes. Mai felt a shiver go down her spine. Somehow she was sure, that he was serious. She was quite grateful, that she was still alive. The youkai turned around and made his way towards the camp. Mai followed him. As they reached the camp, Sesshomaru sat down and leaned against the tree. The girl folded her spare kimonos, trying to ignore, that the demon kept staring at her. She laid on the ground on the opposite side of campfire, her back towards the fire. She put the clothes under her head and closed her eyes. She was so exhausted, that she fell asleep right away.